Goodbye, Caroline
by Dr.Badass
Summary: Klaus is leaving MF but he can't go without saying goodbye to someone first. Please R


Caroline pushed her way through the post high school graduates who were partying on the lawn of the Lockwood mansion. Her head was spinning. Tyler was here. He was here for good. Klaus had turned up at Graduation and presented him, he had granted Tyler his 'freedom' allowing them be together again. So here she was, her school life had ended, everyone would be breaking off into their separate lives and just as she'd let Tyler go he was back again! It was all too much for her; she walked quickly away from Tyler, her friends and now former classmates and into the darkness, she needed some space to process.

"Caroline."

She stopped walking at the sound of that voice. She spun around, her hand jumping to her chest. He was still wearing the suit he'd shown up to graduation in.

"Did I startle you, love?" he asked

"No." Caroline said quickly dropping her hand from over her heart. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to check you liked your graduation presents?" he said, his eyes falling quickly onto the diamond bracelet on her wrist.

"I love it." She said honestly "I'm sorry I broke it last time you gave it to me. I was kind of mad at you that night at the ball."

"I know." Klaus smiled. "And rightly so, I hoped I could get your forgiveness by sending you the picture of you and the horse I drew… "

"I still have it, you know." Caroline said before she could stop herself.

"You kept it?" Klaus said with a small inquiring smile

"Of course I did. How often does a girl get a romantic drawing? Tyler didn't feel quite the same way about it…"

Klaus cocked his head slightly "And speaking of Tyler…that brings us to your second gift."

Caroline sighed "You don't know how much it means to me that you would stop your pursuit of Tyler. Thank you, Klaus."

"You're very welcome, Caroline. And besides I do know what it means to you, you're a beautiful soul Caroline; even after all I've put you and your friends through you still allowed me to seek your friendship and for that I'll be eternally grateful."

Caroline let his words sink in for a second, a flicker of panic rose within her. This was beginning to feel like a goodbye. She desperately looked for a topic of conversation, anything to keep him here a little longer.

"You're still in your suit." She acknowledged "You should have changed if you were crashing our party; you look like you could be going to a funeral instead of a celebration."

Klaus loosened his tie slightly and sighed "I feel like I'm going to a funeral."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked as the feeling of panic rose further within her.

"I'm leaving again." He told her

"Again? But you just got back…" she replied

Klaus looked her in the eye this time "What I mean to say sweetheart, is, I'm leaving…for good."

"What?" Caroline said "You're leaving Mystic Falls? What about your house and your…" she struggled for another reason

"My what?" he said "I have nothing here. Not really."

"You have a life." She argued

"I can have a life anywhere I want." Klaus replied "That's the beauty of forever, restarting again and again."

"But I- I've gotten used to you being here. I mean, I thought we were friends now." She said quickly

Klaus gripped her upper arm "We are friends, but that's all. I know you don't return my feelings, but you're young and you love Tyler…"

Caroline was conflicted. She did love Tyler but she knew she felt something for Klaus too, and it grew every day.

"Everything's changing. High school is over, people and moving on and going to collage but I just didn't realise I would be saying goodbye to you too, not yet…" she confessed

"I have to go, Caroline. Things are changing for me in a way I could never have dreamed of and someday I hope I'll be able to share some of this information with you but right now I think you need to be here, with Tyler and your friends." Klaus said

"I don't know what to say." She replied honestly, her eyes began to glisten

"Say you'll continue to be the girl that's captivated my heart, tell me you'll hit university like a hurricane and you'll experience every side of life possible, art and music and culture…" Klaus said seriously, gripping her shoulder and shaking his message into her

"I promise." She said trying her best to smile "I'll be in every sorority I can."

"That's my girl." Klaus smiled, he dropped his hand from her. "Good bye Caroline."

Before she could react he'd kissed her on the temple and was walking away from her.

"Wait!" Caroline said and she sped after him "Klaus stop."

"What is it, love?" he said searching her face for and answer

Caroline took his hand; there was no time to be embarrassed or cautious now. "What if I said I wasn't ready for you to not be here yet? What if I said I wanted you to stay?" Tears were splashing down her cheeks now.

Klaus cupped her cheek with his other hand and brushed her tears with his thumb. She leaned into his hand.

"I think you're panicking, afraid of the unknown. There's nothing to be afraid of, love. Everything's changing for you but that's life. This is the next step…"

"You said to me once that I wouldn't want a small town life or a small town boy… I think you were right." She said quickly, blinking fresh tears from her eyes "You said you would show me the world."

"I did." Klaus agreed "but I also told you that you weren't ready yet and you're not."

Caroline opened her mouth to disagree but Klaus cut across her "Not yet. You're not ready yet. But like I said to you before: this is the beauty of forever, this isn't over Caroline, and when you are ready there will still be Paris and Rome."

"And Tokyo." She reminds him

"And Tokyo." He smiles

Caroline tried to calm herself, taking a deep breath.

"So this is good bye for now." She says finally, squeezing his hand tighter before letting go.

He leans in "For now." Klaus whispers in her ear, he pulls back slightly and kisses her gently on the cheek.

Her stomach summersaults as his stubble grazes her cheek lightly and all she can think is if she just turned her head to the left she could kiss him properly but he's pulled away before she can act.

He moved away quickly but she calls out into the darkness knowing he'll hear her.

"I'll miss you, Klaus."

"I'll miss you too, Sweetheart." She hears from afar.


End file.
